Women's Volleyball to Host Columbia & Cornell

Friday, October 13

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Columbia

Princeton
Maryland Volleyball vs. Princeton at Xfinity Center Pavillion in College Park, MD on Saturday, Sep. 9, 2023. Samantha Osborne/ Maryland Terrapins.

Photo by: Samantha Osborne/ Maryland Terrapins

October 11, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Match 15: Princeton (7-7, 3-2) vs. Columbia (2-12, 0-5), 10/13 – 7 p.m. ET
Match 16: Princeton (7-7, 3-2) vs. Cornell (4-10, 2-3), 10/14 – 5 p.m. ET
Columbia: ESPN+ | International Feed | Live Stats
Cornell: ESPN+ | International Feed | Live Stats

PRINCETON, N.J. – After four-straight road matches, the Princeton University women's volleyball team returns to Dillon Gymnasium when it hosts Columbia Friday and Cornell Saturday.

Last Time Out
The Tigers split their two most recent matches, first falling to Harvard, 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-11), on Oct. 6 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before bouncing back to take down Dartmouth, 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15), on Oct. 7 in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Ivy Standings
With a 4-2 record in Ivy League play, the Tigers sit in third. Yale (5-0) sit atop the conference standings and Harvard (4-0) are second.

Statistical Leaders
Freshman Kamryn Chaney leads Princeton and ranks third in the Ivy League in kills per set (3.27) while freshman Sydney Draper leads both the team and the conference in assists per set (10.46), a number that also ranks No. 24 nationally.

Sophomore Lucia Scalamandre leads the Tigers, ranks second in the Ivy League and 26th in the nation with a .404 hitting percentage, and averages 1.02 blocks per set which leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference. Kathleen Bishop's .331 hitting percentage ranks sixth in the Ivy League.

Sophomore Ella Bunde's 17 service aces leads the team and ranks sixth in the Ivy League, and freshman Sydney Bold is averaging 4.18 digs per set to lead the team and rank third in the conference.

Award Winners
Draper has garnered three awards in her short Princeton career, being named Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 4 and Sept. 24, and to the All-Tournament Team at the Bucknell Invitational on Sept. 2. Scalamandre was also an All-Tournament Team honoree at the Bucknell Invitational.

The Pursuit of Ivy Title No. 20
The Tigers aim to continue its tradition of success in 2023 and capture a 20th Ivy League Championship. A conference championship in 2023 would also be the Tigers' second-straight and third in the past four seasons. Princeton's 19 Ivy titles are the most by any team in the conference, with Yale's 12 coming in second.

Scouting The Lions
Columbia has a 2-12 overall record and an 0-5 record in Ivy League play. In its most recent match, the Lions fell 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-15) to Yale inside Levien Gymnasium on Oct. 7.

Scouting The Big Red
Cornell is 4-10 overall on the season and 2-3 in Ivy League matches. In its most recent match, the big Red suffered a 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 25-17, 14-25, 15-13) setback to Brown on Oct. 7 in Ithaca. New York. Prior to taking on the Tigers, Cornell will face the University of Pennsylvania inside the Palestra at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13.

Head Coach Sabrina King
A three-time Ivy Coach of the Year (2019, 2016, 2015), King has guided Princeton to five Ivy titles (2022, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015). King has also coached four Ivy Players of the Year and spent seven seasons as an assistant coach, winning conference championships in 2007 and 2004. As a player, King won three Ivy titles, was named All-Ivy League on three occasions and was the 1999 Ivy Player of the Year.

The Returning Ivy Rookie of the Year
Scalamandre, the 2022 Ivy Rookie of the Year, will look to build off a dominant freshman campaign. Also named ECAC Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Ivy, Scalamandre was a seven-time Ivy Rookie of the Week in 2022. She led the Ivy League in total blocks (104), a number that also ranked third all-time in program history for most blocks in a season. Scalamandre ranked first in the Ivy League, 39th in the nation in blocks per set (1.27) and had 10 matches with at least five blocks. In addition, Scalamandre ranked third on the team in points (266) and points per set (3.24).

A Summer of Service
Erin McNair spent two weeks in Kenya over the summer with HEART (Health Education Africa Resource Team), a faith-based humanitarian organization that focuses on empowering vulnerable women, children, and youth in Africa to thrive beyond HIV. The WEEP mother's (Women's Equality Empowerment Program) is one of the many programs that HEART has in which they provide single, vulnerable mother with skills and resources to overcome their current situations to provide for them kids and themselves. The experience was so impactful for McNair that she has decided to take Swahili at Princeton to further pursue the culture in hopes of returning in the future.

Summer Standouts
McNair wasn't the only Tiger to have a busy summer. Kathleen Bishop worked at the German Aerospace Center, Ella Bunde studied abroad at the London School of Economics, Gracie Wood was a Clinical Science Intern at the Topcon Healthcare Innovation Center (THINC) division with Topcon Healthcare, Mariah Haislip was a Summer Fellow with J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management – U.S. Private Bank, Shelby Fulton took an online course on machine learning and did personal coding projects, Valerie Nutakor worked as a patient safety assistant at a hospital while obtaining an EMT certification and Julia Cabri was an intern with Exabeam, a cyber security company in the Bay Area.